Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,465
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$28,025
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,232
Vermont costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Vermont — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$107,490
Kept after tax
$79,465
Worth in national money
$82,232
State rank
5
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $107,490, which ranks 5 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 9.61% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Vermont. It ranks 38 out of 453 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $107,490 the take-home is $79,465; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $82,232 would nationally. The average comes to $117,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Vermont ranks 5 of 45 states publishing a median for political science teachers, postsecondary, at $107,490 — about 9.61% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Vermont, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 38 of 453 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for political science teachers, postsecondary in Vermont, on $107,490, is $79,465 — equivalent to $82,232 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $117,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $169,790 |
| This salary | $107,490 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Vermont | $79,465 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,449 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,672 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $100,406 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,453 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $107,490 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,060 and the ninetieth is $169,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $79,465, from $107,490, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 38 of 453 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $82,232 uses one figure for the whole of Vermont. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 453 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 38.
- The Vermont median of $107,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,060 to $169,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Vermont is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $79,465 from $107,490. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 38 of 453 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $82,232, worked from $107,490, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Vermont address, on work sitting at 38 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $117,620, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,060 and the top tenth $169,790 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Vermont is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $82,232 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Vermont adds its own income tax on top — which is why $79,465 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Vermont is $117,620. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($76,060) and the ninetieth ($169,790) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Vermont's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $82,232 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $79,465 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Vermont income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.